I have admired Linda Gregoriou's aesthetic ever since I saw her flower and art filled apartment on the cover of Vogue Living magazine several years ago. Linda (pictured above in a portrait by Tony Amos) is an interesting mix of sound business sense (as a property developer and investment banker) and a roving artistic spirit that serves her well for her various creative endeavours. The latest of these is the relocation of her much loved shop Pure and General (it featured in the Louis Vuitton guide to Sydney as 'best store') from Potts Points to Erskineville in Sydney's inner west. Linda has a knack for finding the right spot, the right character of building – an old Victorian Butcher's shop - and of course the right merchandise: Fijian brooms at $25 were flying out the door during my recent visit. Yet with the paint barely dry on the present plan she is already on to the next: standing still is simply not her style.

The Pure and General store can be found at 38 Swanson Street, Erskineville. 

What inspired you about your present location?

The inner west of Sydney is dynamic, vibrant and happening, and I love the Victorian building we are in. It feels like a traditional corner store and there's even a small pocket park next to it where we have regular gatherings. The demographic also feels right. There is a big mixture of terrace houses, apartments, families, professional and creative people. Also, Australians just love to renovate... and with renovation comes home wares!

How will you use the space?

The new space is much smaller, but we will still have a lot of the same type of stock. Rather than having everything out on the floor at once, products are put out based on the season, so there is an ever-changing line up of home wares. The trick is to keep coming in as once goods are sold we rarely ever get them back again. This keeps the stock always feeling fresh and ensures there is always something new for the Pure and General customer.

You source your product from all over the world – what is your approach to buying for the store?

I have to like them! I l always imagine whether I could live with a product and have it in my home. The products have to have some sort of enduring quality about them; that they have been tried and tested over time. I also try and source products that the customer won't be able to find anywhere else unless they really go off the beaten track in their travels. I tend not to buy from trade fairs. I normally jump on a plane and physically go and hand pick the products I stock. It's time consuming but worth it. I purchase limited stock and once the product is sold I tend not to stock it again so it makes it special. I'm also conscious of having stock that is unique.

Do you also buy locally? And what do you look for in Australian product?

Yes, I do buy locally, but the approach is the same as buying globally. I prefer to stock Australian products that are hand made and I don't stock products that already have an online presence. I'm not interested in stocking products that I can find in every second shop on the high street. I sound a bit hard-core about this... well I am actually! People don't always appreciate the amount of effort that goes into hand made homewares. I strongly believe artisans should be supported. In Japan and a lot of the Scandinavian countries, hand made products are parts of everyday life, as they tend to last longer. I always like the ethos of buying one good quality product that will last irrespective of the price.  For instance I still have the willow clothes basket my great grandmother used. It's still going strong. That for me is a perfect product for Pure and General.

The shop feels like a beautiful, curated emporium with lots to absorb. How will you approach the changing of merchandise within the space?

It's based on the seasons. It's important to change the stock constantly. We have two large warehouses in Greenacre and the new stock is bought out almost once every two weeks. Quite often I will instagram a product and within two days it's sold out. We sell a lot of rugs, carpets and skins, so they come out in winter. I have a penchant for utilitarian laundry equipment so that tends to emerge in Autumn, when people are starting to nestle back into their homes after Summer. Ultimately, I think you hit the nail on the head Karen: the stock is curated. My background is design and I have been doing it for almost 25 years!

Belgium Linen place mats and hand made coffee cups from Marrakech.

At present you have a clever collaboration with an artist on display. Are these collaborations something you will continue with?

We have always collaborated with artists and artisans. That is the backbone of how Pure and General has functioned. For instance we worked with the last traditional broom maker in Japan who made for Pure and General a multitude of cleaning and dusting products; we worked with weavers in Tangier and wood-workers in Marrakech to produce a range of stools and chairs. George Raftopoulos, a mid-career painter, has produced a series of paintings exclusively for Pure and General on shoeboxes. It's a play on the Expressionist painters who painted on cigar boxes and the notion of recycling. His works normally sell in the tens of thousands so it's also about taking art from the gallery into a more public realm. These works are affordable from $200 to $250.

And finally, as someone who doesn't have a second of downtime, what else does 2014 hold for you?

I'm currently working on a documentary series that I wrote and will co-present. It's in development with Fremantle Media and the ABC, and it's about urban design and the spaces between buildings. We hopefully start filming that in August this year. As an urban designer I'm going to get back to my first love, which is property. I've had a property development company for the last 15 years, but I've had a bit of a hiatus from that for the last four years while undertaking Pure and General.  I'm going to crank that up again. I think that's enough for the time being!